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In key passages of Summa Theologiae, specifically under the questions on tolerance of heretics (IIaIIae.11.3) and killing of sinners (IIaIIae.64.2), Thomas Aquinas considers the acceptability of death as penalty for a person who endangers either faith or well-being of a community. If one considers the testimony of these texts alone, it would appear as if capital punishment has found a champion in no less than the premier Catholic philosopher himself. There are in fact those who seriously look up to Aquinas as a death penalty advocate. While his insights on capital punishment are crucial, one wonders however whether appeal to the aforementioned texts in question can do justice to the inherent complexity of Thomistic ethico-political theory and to the question itself of capital punishment. How then does one weigh Aquinas’ opinion on the possibility of capital punishment against his sustained and affirmative commitment to the fullness of human life, be it in the context of an individual or a community? This paper intends to address this apparent tension within Thomas Aquinas’ ethicopolitical theory vis-à-vis the current debate on the re-imposition of capital punishment in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. As important, therefore, as making a Catholic rejoinder in this exchange is the effort to understand better the mind of Aquinas on the said issue. Through such undertaking, one acquires an opportunity to guarantee Catholic presence in the public debate while highlighting at the same time the continuing relevance of Thomistic theory on the pressing ethical and political issues of the day.

The Ethico-Political Theory of Thomas Aquinas and the Revival of Capital Punishment in the Philippines